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  • What’s More Important? | Posted by Mart De Haan on Aug 06 2010

    In a business, what is more important, people or process, relationships or product? Or to clarify, what is more important in a commercial enterprise, people and relationships or process and product? My guess is that some of us would say that this is a no-brainer. But I’m also guessing that among those of us who [...]

  • Is God All We Need? | Posted by Mart De Haan on Apr 17 2010

    Whether God is all we need surfaced in our discussion of “Christian ideas that can drive you crazy.” Seems to me that this question shows again how, by a simple shift of perspective, or motive, a statement can change meaning. All of us would probably readily affirm that, when God is all we have, we [...]

  • Symphony | Posted by Mart De Haan on Aug 30 2009

    Over time, we all come across ideas that change the way we think about ourselves. For me, one of those thoughts is that a well-lived life is more like a symphony than a solo. The point takes nothing away from a solo. I love hearing Willie Nelson sing “September Song,” or LeAnn Rimes do her [...]

  • Beer Summits and the Bible | Posted by Mart De Haan on Jul 31 2009

    As I’ve read the news reports on the President’s meeting with police Sergeant James Crowley and Harvard Scholar Henry Louis Gates, I’ve been interested in the different responses. The highly charged racial implications around the event that prompted the arrest of Professor Gates, together with  the public debate that followed, showed how quickly each of [...]

  • Government and Kingdom Ministries | Posted by Mart De Haan on Aug 16 2008

    In many regions of the world “ministers” are public servants. Their civil “ministry” is to act in behalf of a government department that operates from a building that in turn is referred to as “the Ministry”. Kurdistan has a Ministry of Justice. India has a Ministry of Environment and Forests. Thailand has a Ministry of [...]

  • Singapore Update | Posted by Mart De Haan on Jul 09 2008

    Here’s a picture, looking from the ground up, at the condominium complex where I’m staying for the week. A couple of retired business people, who have been volunteering their counsel for our international efforts, have graciously opened up their home to me. The striking architecture of the building reflects the progressive style of this whole [...]

  • The Value of a Person | Posted by Mart De Haan on May 26 2008

    Until I saw it, I didn’t realize that much of Israel’s Mount of Olives is a cemetery. Here, those who remember the dead place a stone of remembrance on top of their loved one’s grave. Today, in America, we use this Memorial Day to honor those who have lost their lives fighting for our country. [...]

  • The "H" Factor | Posted by Mart De Haan on May 16 2008

    Like pride, the closets of humility are filled with different hats and clothes for different occasions. Popular opinion regards it as a doormat personality, and maybe even pride in disguise. Yet our books of common language describe it as the kind of realistic view of ourselves that is necessary to share the pain or joys [...]

  • Bible Ah-Ha! #9 | Posted by Mart De Haan on Apr 05 2008

    Over time we all come across ideas that change the way we think about ourselves and one another. For me, one of those thoughts is closely connected with 12 Step programs and the Church that we’ve been thinking about together in my last couple of posts. It’s also one of those perspectives that I think [...]

  • The Submission Riddle | Posted by Mart De Haan on Feb 23 2008

    When does the absence of submission double its meaning? I learned something this week that has carried with me into the weekend. Let me see if I can put in words a thought that I find compelling. In the ongoing debate about the role of husbands and wives, we’ve probably all heard both sides of [...]

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